Busybody
We are ALL BUSYBODY!
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Posts
- 55,323
Al Sharpton Owes $4.5 Million in Unpaid State and Federal Taxes
What does it take to get a levy on Al Sharpton’s income?
Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent, and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses. And though he said in recent interviews that he was paying both down, his balance with the state, at least, has actually grown in recent years. His National Action Network appears to have been sustained for years by not paying federal payroll taxes on its employees.
With the tax liability outstanding, Mr. Sharpton traveled first class and collected a sizable salary, the kind of practice by nonprofit groups that the United States Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration recently characterized as “abusive,” or “potentially criminal” if the failure to turn over or collect taxes is willful.
Mr. Sharpton and the National Action Network have repeatedly failed to pay travel agencies, hotels and landlords. He has leaned on the generosity of friends and sometimes even the organization, intermingling its finances with his own to cover his daughters’ private school tuition.
Why is the IRS coming down on these tiny tea-party groups like a ton of bricks, and just shrugging at a seven-figure tax bill left unpaid for years? Revelations like this confirm the suspicions of millions of Americans that the tax laws are only for the little people. A member of the protected class -- like the guy who meets with the president regularly and who has a show on MSNBC -- doesn’t have to pay taxes.
From the IRS:
A lien is not a levy. A lien secures the government’s interest in your property when you don’t pay your tax debt. A levy actually takes the property to pay the tax debt. If you don’t pay or make arrangements to settle your tax debt, the IRS can levy, seize and sell any type of real or personal property that you own or have an interest in.
What’s stopping millions of Americans from declaring next April, “I’ll pay my taxes after Al Sharpton pays his?”
What does it take to get a levy on Al Sharpton’s income?
Mr. Sharpton has regularly sidestepped the sorts of obligations most people see as inevitable, like taxes, rent, and other bills. Records reviewed by The New York Times show more than $4.5 million in current state and federal tax liens against him and his for-profit businesses. And though he said in recent interviews that he was paying both down, his balance with the state, at least, has actually grown in recent years. His National Action Network appears to have been sustained for years by not paying federal payroll taxes on its employees.
With the tax liability outstanding, Mr. Sharpton traveled first class and collected a sizable salary, the kind of practice by nonprofit groups that the United States Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration recently characterized as “abusive,” or “potentially criminal” if the failure to turn over or collect taxes is willful.
Mr. Sharpton and the National Action Network have repeatedly failed to pay travel agencies, hotels and landlords. He has leaned on the generosity of friends and sometimes even the organization, intermingling its finances with his own to cover his daughters’ private school tuition.
Why is the IRS coming down on these tiny tea-party groups like a ton of bricks, and just shrugging at a seven-figure tax bill left unpaid for years? Revelations like this confirm the suspicions of millions of Americans that the tax laws are only for the little people. A member of the protected class -- like the guy who meets with the president regularly and who has a show on MSNBC -- doesn’t have to pay taxes.
From the IRS:
A lien is not a levy. A lien secures the government’s interest in your property when you don’t pay your tax debt. A levy actually takes the property to pay the tax debt. If you don’t pay or make arrangements to settle your tax debt, the IRS can levy, seize and sell any type of real or personal property that you own or have an interest in.
What’s stopping millions of Americans from declaring next April, “I’ll pay my taxes after Al Sharpton pays his?”
